Somebody give Michelle Obama an umbrella. A big one.

I’ve gone back and forth over who I support in the primaries. I voted for Obama and then spent the next month wishing I’d voted for Clinton (not that it would make a difference in Illinois, but still). Now at the end, I think I made the right choice. I would also classify myself as someone who, as Melissa described, “voted for Obama in the primary, who [has] watched with horror the seething hatred directed at Hillary Clinton just because she is a woman.”

So congratulations to Barack Obama. I’m glad the stupid primaries are over and I am facing the coming months of campaigning with fear and dread and, under it all, a glimmering kernel of hope that all this talk of change is more than rhetoric. Now I am way too cynical to think Obama is going to take office and socialize our health care system, pass the ERA, codify reproductive justice into federal law, grant equal rights under the law to non-hetero couples, and strengthen Title VII or anything. But I’m hoping things will at least be better once he’s in office.

I’m editing this to add something important, that I know but that somehow (ummm) failed to really hit me until just now. Lauren at Stereohyped says it better:

While I was well aware of the historical nature of the campaign, the full weight of it didn’t truly hit me until last night, because I didn’t really allow myself to believe that in this country that I grew up in, this country that I know and love and hate and could not live without, that something like this was possible. We have a black, major-party nominee for president. And if he plays his cards right and voters step up to the plate, he could also become president. There are few black Americans, especially older black Americans, who were idealistic enough to fully believe (and not just hope) that this could happen in their lifetimes without seeing it first with their own eyes. Barack Obama was one of them.

Holy fucking shit people. We have a black, major-party nominee for president. Knowing myself as I do, this probably still won’t totally hit me until I’m doing laundry tomorrow night at which point I will have a tearful, all-to-public realization of the momentousness of the occasion in the damn laundromat.

What I really want to say right now, though, is that I am with Cheryl Lynn when it comes to Michelle Obama: “‘Chelle could call me at two o’clock in the morning and ask me to roll on a bitch and I would calmly pull out my sneakers and Vaseline.”* I am a FAN of Michelle Obama. I am hoping that she becomes friends with Hillary Clinton, learns a few tricks, hits the senate (Come be my senator! I will campaign for you!) and runs for president in 2020.

And I’m so not looking forward to what the media and the Republican party (and some bitter racist Democrats) are going to try to do to this woman from now until November. For shit’s sake, look at just one way so-called “allies” have treated Michelle Obama before now. Two coworkers, when discussing Barack Obama’s campaign around the Illinois primaries made it a point to stress how little they trusted Michelle. When I asked them why, they answered that they thought she was scheming, and that it was her greedy desire for a larger house that forced poor Barack into a potentially shady land deal with Tony Rezko. And I don’t even want to get into what my staunchly democratic grandparents, who have a framed picture of FDR on their wall and who were two of the biggest Hillary Clinton supports on this planet have said about Michelle because it makes me sick to my stomach and more than a little bit depressed. And that’s just a tiny bit of what I, a privileged white woman who has worked hard to limit her exposure to assholes and bigots as much as possible, have experienced first hand.

Michelle Obama seems not to inspire the fealty among mainstream women that Hillary Clinton does. Over at the blog Hillary is 44, which has very vocal about suspected sexism directed at the first viable female candidate for president, a screed was recently posted entitled “God damn Michelle Obama.”

Obama wants his lantern jawed wife to be “off-limits”. Michelle apparently is the only spouse to get such special treatment. It was Michelle of course that debased herself by trying to dredge past right-wing attacks on Bill and Hillary Clinton. It was the Obama campaign that circulated anonymous memos attacking spouse Bill Clinton.

Lantern-jawed? It is sooo feminist to attack a woman based on her appearance. It’s a safe bet that the proud women at Hillary is 44 won’t be speaking out about how press, pundits and even some progressive bloggers have painted Michelle Obama as the stereotypical domineering black woman–a two-fer sexist and racist label.

Tami ends the piece with an admonition that all bloggers who self-identify as feminist MUST HEED if we are going to make any progress toward justice:

Mainstream feminists have been extremely vocal about the gender bias that has dogged Hillary Clinton since she appeared on the national stage. They rightly realized that sexism against the former First Lady and current Senator is just an example of the way society views ALL women. So, why are so many women standing silent, and worse, abetting the demonization of another woman of substance?

Volunteer Michelle Media Monitors
This whole infamous tape stuff is just a sliver of what Michelle Obama is going to face in the media. So because I predict getting a flurry of emails from now until November, I am going to be proactive and start a separate Michelle Obama blog to track every article, blog post, youtube clip that pops up and provide you an opportunity to respond. Because if the past is any indicator, the campaign has no problem with her being turned into a verbal punching bag, I DO! IF you want to volunteer and want to post updates on the blog, send an email to the gmail account in the right sidebar. Its going to be a LONG hot SUMMER!

Whether you support her husband or not. Let’s be clear, any and every Black woman that walks in her footsteps can expect the same treatment so we might as well pull a Gandolf, draw a line in the stand and yell “THOU SHALL NOT PASS!” This ain’t about Barack, its about every professional Black woman that has had to smile on the days she didn’t want to for fear of being labeled ANGRY.

So keep your eyes open, and stay loud.

*I’m not entirely sure what the Vaseline is for, but I have some and would totally bring it along if M. Obama asked me to!

If you’re going “roll on a bitch” ie, fight a girl, you put vaseline on your face so when said bitch tries to scratch you; instead of grabbing onto skin, she gets nails full of grease. Mainly just to keep your pretty face from being scarred from cat-fight scratches.

And, you know, I don’t want to put Vaseline on my face OR fight women so I guess Cheryl Lynn’s metaphor is not entirely apt for me, but the underly sentiment of support still stands.

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I just finished reading Charles Payne’s 1995 book I’ve Got the Light of Freedom about grassroots organizing in Mississippi during the civil rights movement of the 1950s-1960s. A lot of civil rights scholarship focuses on the movers-and-shakers of the movement: Martin Luther King, Jr., the SCLC, Malcolm X, etc… and ignore the nameless, faceless people who comprised the bulk of the movement, especially women and especially at the local levels. One of Payne’s purposes in writing this book is not only to show how ordinary people were moved to do extraordinary things, but to also show how we often don’t think of those things as extraordinary, because they’ve been overshadowed by the awe-inspiring actions of people like Dr. King.

I think recognizing ordinary, average people in history is so, so important. Heck, I’m a social historian myself. But I also think that sometimes we need galvanizing leaders like King and Obama, leaders who, even if they’re mythologized, inspire and mobilize others to action on a mass scale. It’s been quite some time since we’ve had a black (non-athlete) role model who has been capable of inspiring even a modicum of the pride and hope that MLK did. Obama represents that opportunity, even more so if he is elected. When I cast my vote, my decision will be based on a variety of issues: economics, our domestic and foreign policies, health care, civil rights, etc… but I’m not one of those people who also insist I don’t consider gender or race in my decision, because I absolutely do. I will vote for Obama because I feel he not only offers the most sound solutions to a lot of our nation’s problems (and appears like the most educateable candidate) but also because it’s damn time our lily-white, male presidential lineup more accurately reflects our national demographic.

But I also think that sometimes we need galvanizing leaders like King and Obama, leaders who, even if they’re mythologized, inspire and mobilize others to action on a mass scale.

I totally agree! B. Obama definitely has that galvanizing magic. He’s one of a few people whose political speeches I will voluntarily listen to.

I also think there are LOTS of black non-athlete role models out there. They just don’t get the press and attention that they deserve because their work is related to challenging the status quo rather than entertaining the masses and making money for very rich white people. (Note: Athletes can be good role models, too, but shouldn’t be the only ones.) But I agree that it’s been quite some time since the media has given a non-athlete minority role model the attention s/he deserved.

OTM – Yes, I didn’t mean to say that there aren’t lots of good black role models, but that there aren’t as many well-known good black role models, capable of inspiring the same degree of pride as King did. I haven’t seen this many people so excited about liberal-leaning politics since the King era. The fact that Obama has a national stage with which to wield positive influence and inspire hope is something that is direly needed.

I agree that family members of candidates shouldn’t be attacked, Sarah, but I also feel that they should be examined, but fairly. Candidates are not made in a vacuum; we don’t only elect a president, we also elect the spouse that helped create the candidate and whose support enabled him/her to seek office the first place. And if we’ve learned anything from Clinton, it’s that first wives do much more than select new china and redecorate the White House. They play key role in many social justice and political issues, especially women like Michelle Obama and Clinton who are both accomplished professionals in their fields. I, for one, would like to learn more about Michelle Obama and the role she will take as First Lady, but I’d prefer that analysis be as fair and non-biased as I expect commentary on any candidate to be.

Sarah, I was about to say that I absolutely think the wives should be off limits, but then I thought about it and maybe I disagree. Insisting that candidates’ spouses be off limits suggests that the spouses have no active role in politics, but are purely supportive, shadow-selves of the candidates. But Michelle Obama, like Hillary Clinton before her, are political entities in their own rights with opinions and careers and (possibly, for MO) political ambitions themselves. While I can’t speak for McCain, and while I suspect she will be forced into this supportive role because her husband’s supports wouldn’t have it any other way, Obama at least is likely to take an active role in her husband’s campaign and might end up with an active role in government. She is surely qualified for one. So while I think that the main focus should be on the candidates themselves, I think it’s worthwhile to examine what the candidates’ spouses political views are.

What made me think that is wondering, “What if Cynthia McCain were in the ladies axillary of the KKK? Would I want to know and if I knew, would I think that fact worthy of consideration when judging John McCain’s fitness for office?” And yeah, I would want to know and it would matter to me.

Now, THAT said, I think that the criticism should be FAIR and should be directed at the POLITICS of the spouse, not her looks or her shopping habits or her voice or clothes. And that of course, is wishful thinking of the highest order. If HRC, who was actually running for the Democratic nomination in her own right, couldn’t escape misogynist slights, what chance do the wives of candidates, who are already cast in a secondary, and (in the eyes of the media/most of the country) lesser, feminine role, to escape that kind of pointless, sexist scrutiny?

Not a DAMN chance in HELL. So, given the reality of the situation, I guess I agree with you after all Sarah.

Rachel – 100%. The excitement surrounding his campaign is palpable. It’s like being outside in Wrigleyville during a winning Cubs game, but with fewer drunks.

Also, unless the kids are gunning for political roles under their parent’s administration, HANDS OFF. I swear the first time I read anything nasty about Obama’s kids I will go the fuck off. I don’t even know what that means in practical real-life terms, but I will do it.

If you’re going “roll on a bitch” ie, fight a girl, you put vaseline on your face so when said bitch tries to scratch you; instead of grabbing onto skin, she gets nails full of grease. Mainly just to keep your pretty face from being scarred from cat-fight scratches.

HAHAHAHA. Okay. As you can see, I have not been in very many fights. I am about to DIE imagining myself with Vaseline on my face in hand to hand combat with a long-nailed woman.

Anyway, my offer still stands, as long as it is a metaphorical call to arms. I am too old and too slow to do any real fighting. Also I don’t want to fight other women, metaphorically or otherwise. It’s against company policy!

Except that we DON’T elect the spouses. We only vote for the candidates. There is no Constitutional role for the spouse. What I learned from the Clinton presidency was that when the spouse of the elected official takes a role in the government, she or he can do so without the accountability that other political figures owe the public. If a President Obama appoints Michelle Obama to a Cabinet position — and she seems quite qualified — that’s one thing. There is accountability to Congress and to the Public that comes with that. But I’ve had my fill of “two for the price of one.”

I think that as the campaign progress we are going to see that the sexism that was tossed at HRC will pale in comparison to what will be in store for Michelle. They will use her body to represent the usual sexist and racist sterotypes. Already they are refering to Obama as “under her thumb”. A relationship with a black woman cannot be equal because we are all man-eaters. I am far more of a fan of hers than I am of his and as such I realize that there will be tough days ahead for all WOC.